The
following is a transcript of some of what was said during the birth (transcribed
from our videotape). There was a lot of noise and a lot of people talking, so
we couldn't include everything. But it gives a pretty good sense of the sequence
of events and who was involved.

(It
was a very exciting time. The baby's head was crowning and our nurse couldn't
locate the on-call obstetrician. Then the doctor who pinch hit practically let
Mike deliver the baby!)

Mike
(ThatDad): You're doing so good, Linda.

Holly
(our doula): Good. He's down there.

Mike:
He's poking out now.

Holly:
You're stretching like you've never stretched before. It's all right. It's all
right. It's scary but it's all right.

Linda
(ThatMom): It hurts like hell!

Holly:
I know, but it's all right.

Linda:
Doesn't it hurt the baby? How can he breathe like this? [Worried about the baby
being stuck in the birth canal.]

Holly:
No, he's not breathing yet. He's still getting cord blood. He won't need to breathe
until he's out into the air. It's OK. It's OK.

Juliet
(nurse): She should hold for now. She should hold for now. [Wants Linda to wait
until a doctor arrives.]

Dr.
Shahan: Super. [To Mike:] OK, see how stretched the tissues are? What happens
is, it tears like this [points below] but in her case, it's going to tear in these
two directions [points above]. And there are two blood vessels here that supply
blood to the clitoris and all of these tissues. I'm going to let you be involved
in this, but, in terms of supporting the tissues in the perineum, I'm going to
do that. See how tight the tissue is up there? The baby has another two inches
to go. Let me have a local. And a syringe. [To Linda:] You know, I really do want
to cut a small episiotomy for you. I want to prevent tearing around the urethra
and the clitoris. Breathe. It will be nice and neat and will heal nicely. You're
doing fine, you want the tissue to stretch. The baby sounds pretty good.

Holly:
[To Linda:] That's good.

PHONE
RINGS

Juliet:
Hi, this is Juliet. No, Dr. Shahan is here. Can you ring him again? Thanks.

DR.
SHAHAN INJECTS ANESTHETIC

Dr.
Shahan: There's not epinephrine in there, is there?

Juliet:
Epinephrine?

Dr.
Shahan: There's not, right?

Juliet:
No.

Dr. Shahan:
We'll let that diffuse a little bit. [To Mike:] I'm going to cut an episiotomy
to take the presure off of this area. And to allow the baby to come out. Now I
want you to support the perineum, because you don't want the tear to go to the
rectum. Like this. But let me cut it first.

DR.
SHAHAN CUTS AN EPISIOTOMY

Linda:
Ow!

Dr. Shahan:
Did you feel that?

Linda:
Yes!

DR. SHAHAN
INJECTS MORE ANESTHETIC

Dr.
Shahan: Support the perineum like I showed you [Mike applies right hand]. Take
your left hand like this. [Mike puts other hand on top of baby's emerging head.]
[To Linda:] Go ahead and push.

Linda:
Ow, ow...

Dr.
Shahan: Spread your knees apart. Come on, come on...

MIKE
GUIDES BABY'S HEAD OUT

Other
Nurse: Just push right through it.

Dr.
Shahan: [To Mike:] Support the perineum. [To Linda:] Knees apart, knees apart.
I need her knees on her shoulders. All the way back.

THE
REST OF THE BABY COMES OUT, MIKE CATCHES IT

Juliet:
There you go. Here he comes. Good job.

BABY
CRIES

Dr. Shahan:
[Joking to Mike:] Can I cut the cord? No, you can cut the cord.

Other
Nurse: Dad, I'll let you in here in just a second. Let me just get him nice and
pinked up. He's a boy, all boy. I'm going to turn him this way. I want him to
cry a little more to open up his lungs. Get that expansion going here.

Linda:
Why is he so purple?

Other
Nurse: Trying to get his lungs some air.

Dr.
Shahan: What's his name?

Mike:
Griffin. I told the doctor his name, Linda.

Dr.
Shahan: He had to tell me. It's required.

Mike:
It was a little trade we had going here.

Other
Nurse: I'm going to give him a little oxygen. He's just not pinking up enough.
Let me just take him over here.

TAKES
BABY FROM LINDAS CHEST TO EXAMINING AREA

Dr.
Shahan: Let's get him warmed up and dressed up. [To Linda:] You are very sensitive
down there. Now I want you to come down a few more inches. No, keep your legs
up there [on the squat bar]. We need them up there. Now come on down. OK, great.
I'm going to put this [towel] on your tummy and don't want you touching it. I'm
going to get your placenta. The placenta wants to come out.

Dr. Shahan:
I put in 1234567. Yeah, I get that all the time, too. [To Linda:] Well, congratulations.
You sure this was your first one?

Linda:
Yeah, I'm sure.

Dr.
Shahan: You did great.

PAGER
BEEPS AGAIN

Dr.
Shahan: Well, I was happy to do it. You were super. Dad was a big help, too. He
got to cut the cord. And then learn about supporting the perineum and all that
stuff.

LINDA
LAUGHS

Other
Nurse: He has some excess fluid. He still has some of it down there. I'm trying
to change his position around, and trying to help him get rid of it. He's burping
a little bit. Using some of his accessory muscles.

BABY
STARTS CRYING LOUDLY

Other
Nurse: Now that's what I wanted him to do. There you go, there you go. Yes.